Why the word "restructuring" take place of "screwing the little guy"?

[70charginglizard]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070214/ap_on_bi_ge/chrysler_restructuring



Sad. Bet there not laying off any of there German counterparts.

[Orange_Crush]

They're cutting (at least) 1,000 white collar jobs as well.

Two years ago there were fairly extensicve job cuts at Mercedes-Benz as well.

You do what you gotta do to survive.

[pettyfan43]

The main problem that american car makers have is the way they have always done business. Making as many cars as they can push out the door. MORE MORE MORE and they are getting a glut of new vehicles. At the same time they are making new vehicles easier and easier to buy or as a lot of people are doing, LEASE. So now there are TON of NICE off lease vehicles showing up on lots as used vehicles.

A LOT of people are buying the off lease vehicles. I bought my 04 Ram in August. It had 21k then, was in new condition, and was 12-13k CHEAPER than a new comparable 06. Even with discounts, it was a lot cheaper than a new truck, PLUS I got a "bumper to bumper" 100k warranty because it was "certified pre owned" by Dodge/Chrysler. Why the hell WOULD I buy a brand new 06? I got the Hemi, towing package, NICE interior, Sure grip diff and a hi def Infinity stereo! I just added a spray in Line X liner (the bed was just about perfect) and have enjoyed it for 14 thousand miles now! I didn't get the 20" wheels but THAT IS FINE, I have seen what tires cost for those!
I have a buddy whose dad had a truck just about identical to mine except for the color, VERY nice truck, clean with the same equipment as mine. a few weeks ago, he traded his nice 04 with 42K on it for a new 07 4X4! The 07 is about 30 bucks cheaper a month.

Sometimes I don't understand people!

The car makers have don this to themselves to a degree with this kind of business practice. People are just taking the less expensive way of doing this.

[hemihead]

People complain about laying off american workers then get uptight about Labor Unions and buy a Jap car.That's what I can't figure out.We make our own beds.

[472 R/T SE]

   wholeheartedly.

[70charginglizard]

People complain about laying off american workers then get uptight about Labor Unions and buy a Jap car.That's what I can't figure out.We make our own beds.

I'm an American worker and I own only demestic vehicles.

Problem here is not the complaining american workers. Problem here is gready little corporate "you know what's" that won't take paycuts themselve's to there multi-million dollar salaries to make up for the problems that they are the main cause of. (corporate scandals, bad bussiness decisions...etc)

I see it all the time here at place I work at. Corporate makes mistakes all the time and then they come back and force all the people below them to take ethics training and such and the next thing you know. Some other corporate guy sleeps with a secretary or something stupids like that and causes the stock to plummit.

What kind of example does that set???

[Charger_Fan]

  wholeheartedly.

...meanwhile Toyota continues reporting record profits; http://www.caranddriver.com/dailyautoinsider/11100/toyota-reports-record-profits.html
Don't give me any "but Toyota's are made in the US" crap, either.

*EDIT* Here's one from this month; http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/business/06cnd-auto.html?ex=1328504400&en=cd0e4f6fd8c6ad61&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[Brock Samson]

our $ are going to Germany and Japan face it...

BTW i did the lease return thing and saved $15,000 on my 300 M.

[Shakey]

I get tired of hearing about the "us vs. them" mentality when it comes to the blue collar vs. the white collar.  This has been happening for the past 100 years.  Certainly as a young child you would have heard about this at one point and time.  I did, which prompted me to get a career where I am in control of my own destiny and not someone else.  The last thing I wanted for my family was to shudder everytime a news release came out about job cuts.

I'd also agree with the others.  We here in North America want it all, but we don't want to pay for it.   
      

[70charginglizard]

I get tired of hearing about the "us vs. them" mentality when it comes to the blue collar vs. the white collar.  This has been happening for the past 100 years.  Certainly as a young child you would have heard about this at one point and time.  I did, which prompted me to get a career where I am in control of my own destiny and not someone else.  The last thing I wanted for my family was to shudder everytime a news release came out about job cuts.

I'd also agree with the others.  We here in North America want it all, but we don't want to pay for it.   
      

I just get tired of us having to pay for there stupid mistakes. It's just messed up. They never want to admit it when they are the  cause of the problems. They just blame everyone else below them for it.
When I make a mistake. I admit fault and do what I have to do to fix it. I don't blame it on the guy below me.
Thats what I'm taking about. I'd just like to see them taking responsibility for there own actions and quit trying to blame everyone else for it.

[hemihead]

I think you will live to see a day in this country when nothing is made or built here.This will be a country of white collar paper shufflers.Why?Because corporate America is so greedy they farm out work or build plants overseas for labor they can pay $.50 a day.Nobody cares or complains... until THEY get laid off.Wait until white collar America starts to take a hit, then the crying will start.

[Troy]

It's always easier to blame someone else...

Troy

[Ponch ®]

I think you will live to see a day in this country when nothing is made or built here.This will be a country of white collar paper shufflers.Why?Because corporate America is so greedy they farm out work or build plants overseas for labor they can pay $.50 a day.Nobody cares or complains... until THEY get laid off.Wait until white collar America starts to take a hit, then the crying will start.

no, it'll be because major manufacturers will be no longer viable when labor unions keep laying on them burdensome demands that cripple them. Seriously...does anyone really need $20 an hour + benefits  to bolt on Silverado bumpers all day?

My last two cars have been "domestics" - the Charger and the Monte Carlo, both built in the All-American city of Ontario Canada.  My mom drives a Camry - guess where it came from...Osaka? Mexico? Canada?...nope...good ol' Kentucky.

[Shakey]

My last two cars have been "domestics" - the Charger and the Monte Carlo, both built in the All-American city of Ontario Canada.  My mom drives a Camry - guess where it came from...Osaka? Mexico? Canada?...nope...good ol' Kentucky.

pssst- Ontario is a province, just like California is a state.   

Your Monte was built in Oshawa and your Charger was made in Brampton.

One of my buddies helped build your Charger.  He is an assembly line worker who made around $80,000.00 CDN last year.  He is not concerned about the layoffs as he has seniority at the plant and if he does get laid off, he will collect unemployment insurance for a while.  He has paid off his house so he does not worry about too much.  He was/is smart with his money because he knows he has a job that could change at any time.

[Neal_J]

The U.S made its own bed.  The restructuring required today results from factors that are decades old:

First, the U.S. has been the world leader in technology.  With the increase in robotics, a lot fewer workers are needed than back when our Chargers were built.  Those remaining workers must posess technical skills to run the robotics lines. The reality is that most U.S. "blue collar" manufacturing jobs are a thing of the past and all will be done in China. 

Second, despite decades of lax mismangement, U.S. auto manufactures still produce secondary quality compared to Toyota or Honda.   As Oldsmobile learned, reputation doesn't count for much if folks won't buy your crappy cars.

Third, another significant factor is the hefty retirement benfits paid to former workers which adds $3,000 to the price of every U.S. car.  Unions fought for those benefits (like defined benefit pension plans) in prior decades.  The extremely cost of these benefits means that many current union workers will lose their jobs.

It's simple economics.   Sad but simple.

So tell you kids to go to college and max out their 401(k)s thereafter because times have surely changed.

Neal

[RTPTRON]

No one has mentioned what happened to the stock price after the announcement.  It spiked up $5.33 to $69.78.  Back in the day before they added Chrysler to their holdings their stock was trading in the mid $80s.  I feel bad for the loss of 13,000 jobs but I plan to take my profits.

In many ways public companies are a conflict of interest.  What is good for the stock holders is seldom good for the customers and employees of a company.  Public companies are forced to cater to the stock holders first and then their customers and finally their employees.  They have to try and focus long term while working very hard to report a good number every three months.  Companies operating in some other countries have an advantage because of things like cheap labor, nationally funded health care and pension plans.  Growth is a big deal in the market and US companies are struggling to break single digits.

Sorry but this crap is not fair to any of us, we (small guys) and them (Big Wigs).  We all have our issues.

[hemihead]

I keep hearing the same crap all the time about the union guy who makes $20 an hour being the bad guy, it's all his and the union's fault. That's BS.Let's talk about the greed of Corporate America, the white collar worker wasting company time playing around on the internet when they should be working,stock options and multi- million dollar bonuses.This IS one messed up society.And the people who think bolting on bumpers on an assembly line all day is not a job worth $20 an hour must be a desk jockey.

[Neal_J]

I beg to differ, it's not BS. 

Please help me understand how bolting on bumpers ($20/hr.) is any more complicated that flipping burgers at Wendy's ($5/hr)?  In my view, it surely isn't.   Union workers are not the bad guys per se, their wages are just out of line internationally for low-skill jobs.   Face facts folks: Chinese bumper bolters will do the exact same work for $1/day.  Those expecting to earn $20/hr are the ones who, unfortunately, are dilusional.  It may not seem fair, but that's the unavoidable global economic reality.  And it ain't gonna change. 

Oh and there's no Santa or Tooth Fairy...

Neal

[Brock Samson]

http://despair.com/discovery.html

[hemihead]

And shuffling papers,playing on the internet,answering a telephone or a thousand other mundane chores that white collar workers do is difficult?
They vastly overemphasize their value to a company.White collar workers think too highly of themselves.Without the blue collar labor making the product the white collar people wouldn't have jobs.And without those ' people flipping burgers' the white collar people would starve.Just because someone works blue collar doesn't make them less of a person.I suppose the guy doing body or mechanical work doesn't deserve the wages they make either.I guess you never did any labor jobs or you wouldn't say how EASY it is bolting on bumpers.Here is a little reality for you, the guy in China may be bolting on Bumpers for $1/day but it is the Stupid white collar worker paying out the rear for that recycled american steel ( which corporate america raises the price on).

[70charginglizard]

I beg to differ, it's not BS. 

Please help me understand how bolting on bumpers ($20/hr.) is any more complicated that flipping burgers at Wendy's ($5/hr)?  In my view, it surely isn't.   Union workers are not the bad guys per se, their wages are just out of line internationally for low-skill jobs.   Face facts folks: Chinese bumper bolters will do the exact same work for $1/day.  Those expecting to earn $20/hr are the ones who, unfortunately, are dilusional.  It may not seem fair, but that's the unavoidable global economic reality.  And it ain't gonna change. 

Oh and there's no Santa or Tooth Fairy...

Neal

Well if the salaries have to go down around here to help these companies compete in a global market, then the Cost of living should be forced to go down as well so we can live on those $1.00/hour salaries here?

[hemihead]

I beg to differ, it's not BS. 

Please help me understand how bolting on bumpers ($20/hr.) is any more complicated that flipping burgers at Wendy's ($5/hr)?  In my view, it surely isn't.   Union workers are not the bad guys per se, their wages are just out of line internationally for low-skill jobs.   Face facts folks: Chinese bumper bolters will do the exact same work for $1/day.  Those expecting to earn $20/hr are the ones who, unfortunately, are dilusional.  It may not seem fair, but that's the unavoidable global economic reality.  And it ain't gonna change. 

Oh and there's no Santa or Tooth Fairy...

Neal

Well if the salaries have to go down around here to help these companies compete in a global market, then the Cost of living should be forced to go down as well so we can live on those $1.00/hour salaries here?

Oh Lord forbid, might have to layoff some of those white collar people....

[dkn1997]

And shuffling papers,playing on the internet,answering a telephone or a thousand other mundane chores that white collar workers do is difficult?
They vastly overemphasize their value to a company.White collar workers think too highly of themselves.Without the blue collar labor making the product the white collar people wouldn't have jobs.And without those ' people flipping burgers' the white collar people would starve.Just because someone works blue collar doesn't make them less of a person.I suppose the guy doing body or mechanical work doesn't deserve the wages they make either.I guess you never did any labor jobs or you wouldn't say how EASY it is bolting on bumpers.Here is a little reality for you, the guy in China may be bolting on Bumpers for $1/day but it is the Stupid white collar worker paying out the rear for that recycled american steel ( which corporate america raises the price on).

I'll tell you what, I have done both in a sense.  I was a service mechanic for a pool company for 15 years, pretty hard/brutal work.  2 years ago, I got promoted to manager.  It's not all shuffling papers and playing on the internet.  Just because you work at a desk does not mean you have an easier job.  physically...yes.  but it's harder in every other way.  I put in a ton more hours than the guys who now report to me. I get nagged by customers, my boss, and the guys who report to me. 
It's a symbiotic relationship.  so before you go shouting that management or white collar would be nowhere without labor, consider the other point of view;  If not for management "shuffling paper" all day, there would be no work to do.  If the guy who bolts bumpers on could make those decisions and function totally independently, then he can feel free to sell the car, design the bumper, buy the physical plant, pay the utility bills, negotiate with the bumper supplier and arrange to have that bumper giftwrapped and hand delivered to his work station...That's just as impossible as the manager being able to schedule/arrange for the work be out on the line runnign that air gun...

and it's plain ignorant to paint the picture of white collar jobs as just shuffling paper and playing grabass with secretaries all day.  Go do that job for a couple of years and say that.  Just the same, equally as bad to think that bolting bumpers on is a day at the beach. 

[Brock Samson]

supplied without comment..

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/02/14/state/n175558S64.DTL

related:

http://images.despair.com/products/demotivators/power.jpg

[hemihead]

Thank You Brock! Wow  They get probation and one CROOK gets a fine of $2.1 million and the other $410,000? No sweat, they will just pay it with the other money they stole before they got caught.That's your upstanding Corporate Execs for you.